I have been travelling quite a bit for job #1, so garage time has been difficult to find.

That being said, I got all the engine hardware re-plated, the block and head cleaned up, and am now working on re-assembly. I keep hoping to have the long block ready to go back into the engine compartment next weekend (the problem is it is always-- "next weekend"!)

I am going to spend a couple weekends getting the engine compartment sorted out (new brake lines built, etc.) before the engine goes back in.

Still, it is good to be making some progress (albeit not as fast as I would like!)

Nearly finished with the engine clean-up... I have had this SR for about 10 years, it needed a full detail (it was pretty dirty from sitting around for so long), and one thing lead to another, and the next thing I knew, I had it down to a short block. Everything got an extreme clean, I put a new oil pump on it, new valve stem seals, new turbo, and re-plated all the hardware. It was pretty cool to finally be able to put on all the parts I have been collecting for this project.

When you send them in, do you bag everything separately or just have to throw it all in one box? How would you keep up with what goes where?? just curious because that seems like it could be a real pain!! It all looks really nice!!

goichi1 wrote:When you send them in, do you bag everything separately or just have to throw it all in one box? How would you keep up with what goes where?? just curious because that seems like it could be a real pain!! It all looks really nice!!

When I first sent a batch of bits into the platers, marked and individually bagged, it all came back mixed up. The parts were carefully bagged and packaged nicely, but I had lost their orientations and locations. So on the subsequent batches, I took a complete inventory of what went where and noted it in a book (eg M10X1.25X35mm bolt with washer and lock washer for spot X, ect) - it took a pain staking amount of time to document, but I was able to catch a couple of missing parts on their return, and return a few bolts that were not mine!

When I first sent a batch of bits into the platers, marked and individually bagged, it all came back mixed up.

Photographs and experience helps here. Like what Byron wrote, no matter how careful you are when you send the stuff out, it is all going to come back in a big bag, so you better have a good idea of what goes where.

I take digital photos of everything so I have an inventory, and I know how it all goes back together-- this is really going to come in handy when it comes time to put the throttle body back together...

When I send out a mixed load like this last one, it takes a bit of time to sort out the metric to SAE hardware (which the roadsters use), but after spending so many years playing with these cars, you get to a point where you can identify what a bolt is, and where it goes... I just spread it all out on a large work table I have and start organizing it into groups and bagging it from there...

There are a couple reasons why you don't just bead blast the parts before sending them in. First, the glass beads will put too much texture into the finish of the metal, and when the plating hits that it creates a "flat" finish. Second, I have run into reaction issues in the plating that I believe come from the glass bead residue.

I use a super fine (and clean) wire wheel to clean the hardware, but there are many places that a wire wheel can't reach. So, I will gently blast the areas with the bead blaster, and then clean them up with a super fine scotch brite pad, and then follow-up with the wire wheel. That will usually get the shine back.

However I switched to a ceramic media initially because I didn't want the dust issues which come with glass beads. Glass bead media breaks down on impact by nature, keeping the media sharp but also fracturing and constantly reducing in size. Depending on your initial brain size, we found at work that this media is pretty much done after three cycles. It also creates lots of dust making it hard to see what you are doing unless you have a decent cabinet with a good evac system.

The ceramic media on the other hand does not break down near as fast. At work we get 60 - 80 cycles from the same charge of media. And because the media bounces off the surface instead of fracturing, the finish is much better and works ok for plating. For best results I polish the metal with a scotchbright pad.

The ceramic media is very expensive by volume, but works to be cheaper in the long IF you contain the media and don't contaminate it with oil.

The glass bead media in my cabinet is well worn, but I am usually just cleaning parts up before they are TIG welded, or plated, so I don't mind a little extra work to get things clean if they are rusty or worn. Thankfully I have a very good vacuum system on my cabinet, so it stays pretty clear in there.

But I am pretty gentle with the blaster if it is something that is going to be plated-- the plating shows every defect in the surface, so it is very important to get it as clean and smooth as possible to get the nice shiny finish that you are paying for!

I like that oil pan. Do the fin like things on it act as a short heatsink to help cool the oil? And I know of flipping the crossmember when doing KA and SR swaps, so will you be able to have an un-obstructed view of the "SR20" on the pan from under the car?